Needless to say, we rocked the house! Out of 14 athletes we brought home nine golds and one silver. Each division had some ups and downs as far as talent, but there were certainly some quality competitors sprinkled throughout. The 12-13 Black Belt division saw our own Ruth Mendez up against the 2011 USAT National Champion in the finals. We edged it out by one point to take gold.

Our other gold medalists: Connor Cole, Kenzie Cole, Elianna Vallianatos, Harrison, Andres, Will, Kate, and Leo!

Our silver medalist: Jackson Love

Gabriel Mendez, Arthur Miller, Abbey, and Wes Houser also fought, and fought hard, but it wasn’t their night. But even in their loss these athletes had some great takeaways from this event and it’s only going to make them stronger for the next one.

Most important, though, was that we had a handful of brand new fighters get their first tournament under their belt. Building a solid team means you’re constantly recruiting new talent and we’ve got some very promising up-and-coming athletes. And the good news for them is that they’ve got a rock solid crew of athletes above them who are going to make sure they reach their full potential in the coming months and years.

I’m so proud of the sweat and tears my team is willing to put into training so that we can consistently have outcomes like this. And our competition team parents deserve so much credit for getting our athletes to practices and bringing them to these events consistently. Without the support of the parents, we would be nowhere near where we’re at today.

That’s one more competition in the books for our team. Next stop is the Atlanta United Taekwondo Open on September 17th. We can’t wait!

The only problem is that we’re stuck in an early adopter era where there is no clear standard for equipment. Lajust won early contracts with the WTF and USAT, but the Olympic Taekwondo community began rejecting their product for fear of a lack of compatibility and accuracy. The Daedo team has been hard at work edging their product into the market. It’s much like the early battle we saw for high-definition movies: did the world want Blue Ray or HD DVD?

All battles for economic supremacy in a market like the one Olympic Taekwondo enjoys come to an end. A standard must exist for wide adoption to take place. Nobody wants to have to own two brands of expensive sparring equipment. And they don’t want to have to learn the ins and outs of two different scoring systems.

Adidas tried their hand in the E-Hogu scoring system race but they’ve since accepted defeat. And it seems that Daedo is going to edge out Lajust. The WTF will be using the Daedo system in London in 2012.

What does all that mean for us?

Success in the new era of Olympic Taekwondo is partly dependent on owning one of these systems so we can train our coaches and fighters on it. We need to know exactly how it works and our athletes must be comfortable fighting within it. But we don’t want to make the wrong choice and train on a system that never ends up getting adopted.

Based on our research and speaking with many in-the-know people, we’ve decided to buy the Daedo system for our team and we expect to begin training on it in January 2012. At this time, the USAT and AAU are moving slowly on the E-Hogu systems. USAT started to make the switch, but they chose Lajust and are quickly backpedaling. Our source with the AAU has said that when the AAU does get around to adopting the E-Hogu system, Daedo will most likely be their choice.

Our forecast is that Olympic Taekwondo will absolutely and completely move to the E-Hogu technology as soon as a clear standard emerges. Taking the human-error element out of scoring is simply too necessary in this sport. So we’re making a highly educated guess and moving to begin training on the new system. As for our athletes there’s no downside. If you can score points within an E-Hogu system, you can score points within the traditional scoring model; possibly even more so.

Our goal is that our athletes are always as ready as possible for the evolving competition atmosphere. This is an expensive move for our team, but it’s a necessary one. ”To not prepare is the greatest of crimes; to be prepared beforehand for any contingency is the greatest of virtues.”

Our first athlete staged at 8:15am. We finished by 3:30pm after nine of our athletes went to battle inside the Earnest N. Morial convention center. It wasn’t nearly as big as most national events (though only advanced belts and Black Belts are eligible) but the competition was great nonetheless.

Congratulations to all of our athletes

Gold Medalists

• Connor Cole | Final match defeated Kyle Ruth (Georgia).
• Kenzie Cole | Final match moved up to 12-13 division and defeated Dominique Horning (Louisiana).
• Ruth Mendez | Final match defeated Niki Leduc (Texas).
• Gabriel Mendez | Final match defeated Dorian Soto (Florida).
• Robert Franklin | Final match defeated Alex Cannizzaro (Michigan).

Silver Medalists

• Chad Franklin | Final match defeated by John T. Martin (Florida) — Lost by one point.

For Madeline, Claire, and Arthur it’s back to the mat for more training and adjustments. They came to Saints country and fought like true warriors, but it just wasn’t their day.

Madeline and Claire now have their first national tournament under their belt which is a huge step in getting a National title. It’s all about the experience and we’re confident that when these athletes learn from their mistakes and begin to take advantage of their new experience level in training, they’ll be a force to be reckoned with in the future.

There are no undefeated champions in this sport. Attending these tournaments is always a step in the right direction and I’m proud of every single person on this team who continues to dedicate themselves to the sport of Olympic Taekwondo with us. My hat is off to all of them.

This one is in the books and it’s one of the best National events we’ve participated in. I don’t have any images from competition day since I was working the whole time, but I’m sure they’ll trickle in from parents. Here’s a gallery of all the images Mr. Geary took from day one and two. Now it’s back to the mat!